Members of the Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transportation board said Friday they could sign a deal to execute the $1.4 billion rail car contract with Ansaldo Honolulu JV as soon as next week.

The announcement by HART Interim Executive Director Toru Hamayasu came during a joint meeting of the HART board’s finance and project oversight committees. Board members from both committees listened to a nearly three-hour presentation by Ansaldo about its finances, which have been an issue since the City of Honolulu awarded it the core systems contract earlier this year ahead of two other bidders.

“This is very encouraging that the committees requested this meeting,” Hamayasu said.

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Thanks to everyone who took the time to reply to my post. I’d like to respond to some of the comments, because, well, just because.

First thing first: my AdWords campaign, as it is configured today, works very, very well. It produces inquiries, which we turn into paying customers. The average inquiry we get via phone and e-mail yields about $3,450 in revenue. And my total AdWords spending is less than 5 percent of my annual revenue, which I consider to be acceptable. So all of the advice to fiddle with this and change that and look into the other is interesting, but I may or may not change anything. It ain’t broke. I don’t need to fix it.

Second, some clarification on my account and budget. I advertise only on the search network, not the content network. I used to run on the content network, but we got enormous numbers of junk hits that were related to searches for sports conferences and yes, I know that I could have cleaned that up with negative keywords, but that’s a never-ending task. I suspe

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– The LSU Louisiana Business & Technology Center celebrated its 23rd anniversary at the Lod Cook Alumni Center on November 1.

The celebration, dubbed “23 Years of Igniting Innovation in Louisiana,” honored the accomplishments of the LBTC and the achievements of its small business incubator tenants. A reception took place to honor these tenants following the presentation of awards.

“For more than 20 years now, LBTC has contributed to success stories such as those we are hearing tonight,” LBTC Executive Director Charles D’Agostino said. “I speak for myself and everyone involved when I say we are continuously amazed at our tenants innovation and their determination.”

One tenant—Utiliworks L.L.C.—graduated from the incubator this year and was honored along with the following LBTC former and current tenants:

• LBTC Tenant of the Year—Red Six Media L.L.C., a group of artists, designers and conceptual masterminds eager to find that one idea that will take businesses to the next level.
• LBTC Gradua

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Best Buy, which has two stores in Hawaii, said that it will open at midnight on Nov.

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Since April, I’ve followed the progress of the first class of Pipeline Fellowship fellows, 10 women who learned how to become angel investors during a six-month program, and then chose a company to receive their pooled investment. When I last checked in with them, they had narrowed the field of possible companies to three all of which were for-profit, woman-led, and socially conscious, as required by Pipeline.

Last week, the fellows announced their choice: PhilanTech, a company that develops and sells an online grant-management tool for nonprofit organizations and foundations. PhilanTech, founded in 2004 by Dahna Goldstein, will receive a total investment of $105,000 $50,000 contributed by the fellows as part of the program, plus an additional $55,000 that two fellows added on their own. In exchange for their investment, the fellows will receive equity and two PhilanTech board seats (one for the $50,000 investment, and a second for the additional money raised).

Conor Barnes, one of the 10 fellows, said PhilanTech impressed her immediately. S

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The LSU Flores MBA Alumni Association-Louisiana Chapter will hold its annual meeting Thursday, October 27, 2011, beginning at 6:00 p.m. at Juban’s Restaurant. Juban’s is located at 3739 Perkins Road.

According to Troy Prevot, chapter president, the meeting is open to all LSU MBA Alumni. The meeting will commence with a review of Louisiana Looking Up 2011, and a discussion of Louisiana Looking Up 2012 will follow. Also on the table for discussion will be other events taking place during the remainder of the year.

“This meeting will serve as an opportunity for our alumni to network with their peers in the Baton Rouge area,” Prevot said.

Dress for the event is business casual and hors d’oeuvres will be served. A cash bar will be available.

Anyone who is planning on attending the meeting is asked to RSVP online at http://www.bus.lsu.edu/rsvp/. Those who attend will have the opportunity to either pay dues or join the chapter as a member during the event.

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